


Trust

by FalconFate



Series: IC Tumblr Prompts [2]
Category: The Inheritance Cycle - Christopher Paolini
Genre: Fluff, Found Family, I have One (1) OC who shows up for like 0.2 seconds, Pre-Canon, Sleepy Cuddles, Wholesome Murtagh Morzansson, sometimes a family is a man a boy and a horse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26645929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FalconFate/pseuds/FalconFate
Summary: Tornac and Murtagh realize that, sometimes, a family need be nothing more than an old swordsman, a boy, and a colt.
Relationships: Murtagh Morzansson & Tornac (Inheritance Cycle), Murtagh Morzansson & Tornac the Horse
Series: IC Tumblr Prompts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934254
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Trust

**Author's Note:**

> This super fluffy oneshot was requested on tumblr! Come on over to @saphira-approves to request an IC fic!

No one was sure why the foal’s dam had colicked, but regardless, something needed to be done about the foal. None of the other mares would accept the foal to nurse him, and the horsemaster, Pelsa, couldn’t spare any of her staff to care for him.

When Murtagh heard that the foal—whose dam had been one of his favorite mares in the royal stables—may not be able to be cared for, he raced to find Pelsa and demanded to care for him.

Pelsa had eyed him doubtfully, clearly debating the merits of letting a fifteen-year-old look after a foal, but then she told Murtagh, “If you can keep that foal alive to see its first year, he’s yours. I’ll help you as much as I’m able, but it’s _your_ responsibility to keep him healthy, safe, and, most importantly, _socialized_.”

“I’ll take good care of him,” Murtagh promised.

Every day since then, Murtagh had spent nearly all of his time in the Urû’baen stables, even sleeping there some nights. For several weeks, he skipped out entirely on attending any indoor lessons, social events, or otherwise distracting tasks, as the foal needed to be fed often throughout the day, and even the night—and since the foal had been rejected by the other mares who might have nursed him, it was up to Murtagh to get the foal to suckle on a bag of mare’s milk, which Pelsa had some of the grooms collect from the pregnant mares.

Tornac was incredibly proud of Murtagh not only for volunteering for the task, but also for his dedication to it. It could, however, be rather exasperating to climb all the way to Murtagh’s suite of rooms, intending to collect him for fencing lessons (which was notably an _out_ door lesson, not an indoor one, and thus could be moved close enough to the stable that Murtagh couldn’t be exempt), only to find him missing.

Which was about where Tornac was now, actually. Mildly annoyed, but with no small amount of fondness, he sighed at the sight of a bed that hadn’t been slept in for days, and turned around to make his way to the stables.

When he got there, he poked his head first into the grain room, intending to take the foal’s morning meal with him. Each corked bottle was marked with the hour they should be used, but to his surprise, the one for early morning was missing, as was the feeding bag. The kettle of water used to warm the bottle was still hanging over a half-cooled bed of coals.

“Well, that can only mean one thing, hmm?” Tornac mused aloud, leaving the grain room and crossing the stable aisle. Sure enough, when he looked over the door, there was Murtagh, haloed in a dusty golden beam of early morning sun, sitting against the wall with arms full of hungry colt. Murtagh glanced up as he heard Tornac approach, and any lingering exasperation Tornac might have had melted away at once at the sight of the boy’s beaming face.

Quietly, Tornac unlatched the stall door and slipped inside, lowering himself to the ground at Murtagh’s side. He couldn’t help a soft chuckle; the colt was sprawled across Murtagh’s lap like a particularly friendly wolfhound, his head resting on one of Murtagh’s arms while the other held up the feeding bag. “Careful, you’ll spoil him,” Tornac warned good-naturedly.

Murtagh snorted. “He deserves it,” he declared easily. “He was brave enough to try the grain, so he gets cuddles.”

“Oh, well in that case, carry on,” Tornac deferred in amusement. They settled into a comfortable quiet, broken only by the occasional swish of the colt’s short, bottlebrush tail through the straw bedding.

Soon enough the colt had eaten his fill. Murtagh dropped the empty feeding bag at his side in the bedding as the colt glanced around curiously, ears twitching. Evidently, however, the colt found nothing of interest, and heaved a heavy, satisfied sigh as he let his head drop to Murtagh’s chest. Humming happily, Murtagh buried his nose in the short fluff of mane between the colt’s ears and took his own deep breath, which quickly turned into a yawn.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” Tornac asked.

“Hmm. Some,” Murtagh muttered, idly twirling his fingers in the colt’s fluffy mane and yawning again. “He just… he looked so lonely, so I stayed down here with him. He woke me every time he moved, but I didn’t mind.”

“Hm. Get some rest, then,” Tornac encouraged him. “We’ll move your fencing lesson to this afternoon.”

Murtagh glanced up at him in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“With you? Always,” Tornac told him with a wink.

Murtagh answered him with a smile, which quickly devolved into yet another yawn. The boy shifted in place, stretching awkwardly to be sure he didn’t jostle the colt. As he relaxed, he melted against Tornac’s side with a contented sigh, and in only a few heartbeats his breath had turned even and quiet.

Warm pride and affection bloomed in Tornac’s chest. Slowly, he circled his arm around Murtagh’s shoulders, holding him gently in place, and there the three of them—man, boy, and colt—settled in for a morning nap.

After all, sometimes a family is an old swordsman, a lonely boy, and a sweet little colt.

**Author's Note:**

> gosh i just Love them so much
> 
> I should write more Tornac the Human content
> 
> Once again, this was a tumblr request! Feel free to stop by @saphira-approves if you would like to request an IC fic! And as always, comments and kudos are much appreciated!


End file.
